


The Mystery of the Polyglot Diva

by categranger



Category: Original Work
Genre: Coming Out, Epistolary Elements, F/F, Opera Divas in Love, Operas, Pastiche, Press Clippings, Secret Relationship, Social Media, Theatre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 16:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13368615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/categranger/pseuds/categranger
Summary: When world-renowned soprano Emilia Porter surprises a fan by speaking fluent Russian, the celebrity rumor mill goes into overdrive. Gossip soon settles on her handsome co-star Sasha Lermontov, but there are a few surprises in store for the opera world…





	The Mystery of the Polyglot Diva

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elstaplador](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elstaplador/gifts).



> All characters in this story are fictional, with the exception of minor references to Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna's [famously tempestuous relationship](https://www.wqxr.org/story/260955-alagna-and-gheorghiu-operas-posh-and-becks-end-era/) and to Kathleen Battle's [reputation for divahood](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/arts/music/youre-unfired-kathleen-battle-is-returning-to-the-met-after-22-years.html), and all press clippings and social media posts are likewise fictional. Any resemblance to actual singers or events is purely coincidental.

-♪-

**The Metropolitan Opera** added **4 new photos**. 

Tchaikovsky’s _Eugene Onegin_ opens on Valentine’s Day! Don’t miss this dazzling new production, with “one of the strongest casts ever to be assembled on one stage.” (HuffPost) Fresh from her double Grammy win this weekend ( _Unfettered_ , _Der Rosenkavalier_ ), world-renowned soprano Emilia Porter makes her debut as Tatyana, while the exceptional Vladimir Popov reprises his critically-acclaimed Onegin. Sasha Lermontov, a perennial fan favourite (don’t miss his Rodolfo in Puccini’s _La bohème_ this April!), sings the role of the passionate Lensky, and his young love Olga will be sung by the luminous Katya Kuznetsova, stepping in for the ill Alice Meacham. Camila Santos conducts Annie Zhang’s thrilling new production, which is already being dubbed an “instant classic”. (New York Times) Tickets from $25.

Photos by Megan Oyedepo/Metropolitan Opera.

-♪-

**For One Young Opera Fan, A Day of Magic** ( _New York Times_ )  
by Leslie Posa

Viktoria Mikhailova is ten years old, and she wants you to know that someday she will be starring at the Met, just like her new heroine Emilia Porter.

When Viktoria – or Vika, as she prefers to be called – arrived in New York last Wednesday, she was a Sasha Lermontov fan. (“His number _one_ fan,” Vika corrects, in carefully-stressed English.) While she still loves the dashing tenor from her hometown of Vladivostok, his place in her heart now has to be shared with Emilia Porter, the all-American soprano from Atlanta, Georgia. 

Why the change? It all started when Vika persuaded her mother Natalya to spend one of their vacation mornings camped outside the Metropolitan Opera’s stage door. Unable to find a ticket to the Met’s sold-out _Eugene Onegin_ , which opens next week, Vika hoped that she would be able to catch a glimpse of her hero Lermontov during a day of rehearsals. It can be a long wait, surrounded by autograph hounds and the fannishly devout, and some performers choose to leave by an alternative route rather than engage with the public after a tiring day. Vika had no guarantee that her quest would be successful – but still she hoped.

Lunchtime came and went, and no Lermontov. Finally the door cracked open, and a shriek of joy went up from the onlookers. Vika craned forward, only to see with disappointment that it was a woman, Emilia Porter, and not Lermontov. To a ten-year-old anxious to see her hero, Porter’s Grammys, _Vogue_ covers, Super Bowl performance, and countless standing ovations meant nothing. “Maybe Sasha is too busy to come outside,” Vika told her mother, her lip starting to tremble. It had been a long morning for a ten-year-old, however steadfast her fannish devotion.

Perhaps her musical treble projected above the excited murmur of the autograph seekers, many of whom were holding out Porter’s Grammy-winning album _Unfettered_. Perhaps the Russian words cut through the English susurrus. Or perhaps there was something magical in the air.

However it happened, the next thing Vika heard was the clear bell-tones of a trained singer, and when she turned, she was looking up into the famously beautiful face that has graced a hundred magazine covers. “Hello,” the vision repeated, smiling at her. “Are you waiting for Sasha?”

Even more surprising than being singled out, Vika found that this American spoke Russian. She scrambled for an answer. “Yes,” she said, showing Porter the publicity photo and CDs she had brought for Lermontov to sign. “He’s my hero. I’m his number one fan. I’m from Vladivostok, just like him.”

Porter looked at the photograph – an early one, from the days when Lermontov’s chiseled Hollywood cheekbones were still buried beneath an ill-advised wisp of a beard – and smiled. “Sasha’s talking to his mother right now,” she said, still in fluent Russian. “She’s about to get on a plane from Vladivostok, and she wants to make sure he remembered to clean his guest room.”

Vika giggled at the thought of a titan of opera being bossed around by his mother. 

But Porter wasn’t finished. She took her phone out of her handbag. “Here,” she said, holding an arm out to Vika. “Let’s take a silly selfie together and send it to him. Make sure he can see your picture!” 

Vika obediently smiled for the camera, holding up her picture, while Porter playfully stuck her tongue out and winked. Then Porter texted it to Lermontov, before taking another selfie with Vika, this time on Natalya’s phone. They talked for a few minutes about Vika’s favorite opera (Rimsky-Korsakov’s _Sadko_ ) and her career dreams (to sing Cherubino in Mozart’s _Le Nozze di Figaro_ ), before Porter had to leave for lunch with her co-star, Katya Kuznetsova. With one last warm smile, she was gone.

No more than ten minutes later, the stage door opened again, and Lermontov appeared. Almost before Vika had even seen him, she heard him call “Where’s my number one fan? Where’s Vika from Vladivostok?” He signed both her CDs, and the photograph (though he had to be dissuaded from drawing a moustache on the latter, Vika says, laughing). Then he took Vika and Natalya backstage for a whirlwind tour of the Met dressing rooms, full of the bustle of a new production preparing to set sail.

“She scarcely breathed,” Natalya says, stroking her daughter’s hair affectionately. 

Vika nods. “He’s very nice,” she says, confidentially. “I wasn’t even a _little_ bit scared when he took us on stage.”

Nor would it be the last time Vika and Natalya saw the Met’s stage. They were allowed to stay in the audience for the rest of the day’s rehearsals, thanks to Lermontov. Vika watched with rapt intensity as Porter sang Tatyana’s famous letter scene with the exquisite tone and superb beauty of line that have become her calling cards, and the final scene between Tatyana and Vladimir Popov’s Onegin took her breath away. Vika describes the experience now with a speaking swirl of her hands and a starstruck grin, her words failing her.

Yet the best was still to come. When Vika and Natalya left that evening, tired and exhilarated, they were stopped by box office staff, who told them that Porter had one final surprise for them.

This new production of _Eugene Onegin_ is filled with stars from top to bottom, and it promises to be an instant classic. The Metropolitan Opera House will be packed with the rich and famous on opening night, ready to be thrilled and entertained. There isn’t a ticket to be found for love or money. 

But in one of the best seats in the house, little Vika Mikhailova will sit beside her mother, watching her operatic heroes on stage, already dreaming of her own name in lights.

-♪-

**Emilia Porter goes full-on METHOD preparing for her debut as Tatyana in the Met’s glitzy new production of _Onegin_**  
by Tasha_Almaviva, OperaGeeks staff writer

Opera singers are a polyglot group. While twining their talented tongues around the mellifluous syllables of Italian and French (and German, which no one would ever call mellifluous), many pick up sufficient skill to maneuver through Europe with dexterity. 

The practical deployment of opera’s _linguae francae_ , however, surely doesn’t apply to Russian! While there are many excellent Russian-language operas, only _Eugene Onegin_ and _The Queen of Spades_ are regularly performed in the West – not enough of a repertoire to inspire or help a foreign singer to acquire more than the barest smattering of the language. Nor do most foreign singers spend extensive time performing in Russian opera houses.

Yet as we found out this weekend from the _New York Times_ , Emilia Porter looks at this conventional wisdom and laughs in its face. Fluent _Russian_ , Emilia? Russian? Is there anything our Emmy can’t do?!

Now we have to ask the question: has Emmy gone full-on method preparing to thrill us as Tatyana, or is there another reason for her newly-displayed language skills? 

Apropos of nothing, here’s a picture of Emilia with co-star Sasha Lermontov, looking as gorgeous and Russian as the doomed Lensky as he does in every role he sings. In the opera, Lensky may be in love with Katya Kuznetsova’s Olga, but we wonder…

-♪-

**James** @vinceeeeeero  
Omg you guys. Is this Emmy/Sasha thing true? I barely survived Gheorghiu/Alagna. And Emmy/Sasha could be even BIGGER. [GIF. Accessibility text: A white man, Chris Pratt, swivels to look into the camera as the camera zooms in on his face. He has a widening expression of exhilaration.]

 **sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans   
@vinceeeeeero IDK. They were super cute together in the backstage video the Met posted. But the whole cast seems pretty lovey-dovey. Funny given how tragic the opera is, lmao. [Emoji. Accessibility text: A face that is crying and laughing at the same time.]

 **Al Johnson** @papapapapageno2  
@emmyporterfans @vinceeeeeero I bet it’s the comedies that actually have mega drama. When there’s this much doomed emotion, they’re probably all making fart jokes backstage to lighten the mood.

 **sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans  
@papapapapageno2 @vinceeeeeero Dammit, now I’m going to have that in my head during all the most dramatic scenes.

 **James** @vinceeeeeero   
@emmyporterfans @papapapapageno2 Back to Emmy/Sasha – if they’re really a thing that would explain why Emmy’s been so fucking happy lately 

**sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans  
@vinceeeeeero @papapapapageno2 hdu Emmy is always happy

 **sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans  
@vinceeeeeero @papapapapageno2 i mean, except for that time Antonio dropped her on her ass in Traviata, and i'd have been pissed too. i bet Sasha doesn’t drop her on her ass.

 **James** @vinceeeeeero  
@emmyporterfans @papapapapageno2 yeah, his muscles are like Gaston’s, no way he drops her [GIF. Accessibility text: A white man, Sasha Lermontov, flexes his muscles during a photoshoot for _People_ ’s Sexiest Men Alive issue. He is grinning. There is a dimple in his cheek.]

-♪-

**Behind the Scenes of the Met’s Starry New _Eugene Onegin_ , Full Of Glitz and Glam** ( _Vulture_ )

[…]

“So, why did you take the role, anyway?” 

It’s a blunt question to put to a star of the opera stage like Katya Kuznetsova, but she’s known for her easy humor. Unlike divas who inspire whispered tales of horror or commemorative t-shirts for the surviving crew (cough Kathleen Battle cough), Kuznetsova’s reputation in the business is as warm as the rich, dramatic mezzo voice that pays her bills and brings the crowds flocking to her acclaimed recital tour. 

Now she laughs, peering into her dressing room mirror to correct a stray touch of lipstick. “You think I should’ve turned down the Met? They’ve been very good to me.”

The Met called her when Alice Meacham was diagnosed with vocal nodes three weeks ago. Kuznetsova, in rehearsals for another new Met production ( _Aida_ , in which she will sing Amneris), was on hand and knew the part well, though she hadn’t sung it on stage in more than a decade. She’d long since left it behind for bigger and flashier roles – and yet she said yes.

“It’s not a big role,” I say, continuing my bluntness. “One aria. Some cuddling with Lensky.”

Kuznetsova cocks an eyebrow at me in the mirror. It gives her pleasant features a rakish tilt, matching the daring plunge of her cleavage. “For some, that’d be enough.”

She’s alluding, of course, to the production’s Lensky, aka Sasha Lermontov, he who perennially tops any and all Sexiest Opera Hunks Alive lists. The current rumor around town is that he’s been teaching Russian – and perhaps more – to co-star Emilia Porter. It might be true. It might not. 

At the skeptical look on my face, she laughs again. “Not me. True. But I know the role, and they asked. And Emmy asked.”

Now this is getting somewhere. It’s coming up on ten years since Porter and Kuznetsova made their first big splash in the opera world, stepping in at short notice to sing the Countess and Cherubino in an ill-fated production of _Le Nozze di Figaro_ that saw half its cast go down to a virulent round of flu. Neither was unknown – Porter had been touted as a rising star for a year or two before that, and Kuznetsova had won Cardiff – but one of their performances was streamed in cinemas, and their careers never looked back. 

“For old times sake, then?” I ask. They haven’t performed together since, their repertoire largely disparate. “A reunion?”

Kuznetsova is looking at me in the mirror again, a glint in her eye. “You might call it that.”

[…]

The costume department has to be taking the piss. 

That’s the first thing I think when I see Sasha Lermontov in full costume, and I say as much. He throws back his head, laughing in that free uninhibited way that has audiences from Vancouver to Vienna to Vladivostok eating out of his hand. 

“Not bad, huh?” he asks when he’s recovered, giving me a cheesy wink. 

Let me just say this. If you see Lermontov’s Lensky, you’re going to be remembering his costume for a long time. It’s special.

On the subject of Emilia Porter, however, and the rumors spreading like wildfire through the opera world, Lermontov is less expansive. He smiles, and refuses to be drawn. “Emilia’s Russian is very good.” Who taught her, I ask? “No comment,” he says, the smile still hovering on his lips. 

It’s not a denial.

[…]

-♪-

**Eugene Onegin: Act I, Scene and Arioso of Lenski -- Sasha Lermontov, Katya Kuznetsova, Emilia Porter, Vladimir Popov (Met Opera)**

“Clip from the final dress rehearsal. 

Come see this dazzling new production at the Met this February and March, or visit your local movie theater to see it Live in HD!” – Met Opera Staff

47 Comments

 **Maria Fortinbras**  
lmao Emilia can’t keep her eyes off Sasha and Katya. guuuuurl your in love with onegin

 **DD62_amb**  
@Maria yeah but look at the cut of Sasha’s coat I mean can you blame her? 

**EloquenceandEtiquette**  
I don’t approve of this trend of making operas sexy. I know sex sells, but I don’t want to show my teenage son a production that shows so much skin. Olga and Tatyana are supposed to be quiet country mice, not world-famous beauties. And Lermontov’s trousers are just short of obscene.

 **DD62_amb**  
@EloquenceandEtiquette seems like you spent a lot of time looking at sasha’s trousers. also do you even go here, opera is supposed to be OTT, gtfo

 **sashafanforlife**  
Beautiful, Sashenka! You are the best tenor ever, better than Pavarotti for sure.

 **MAGAmind**  
wtf i can’t understand any of this why isn’t it in english your in america sing english

 **SashaLermontovOfficial**  
Check out this dress rehearsal recording of “Kak shchastliv, kak shchastliv ya!...Ya lyublyu vas, Olga,” and don’t forget to come to the show, either in person or in the cinema! Thank you to Katya for always being an inspirational acting partner, and to the entire cast for being your inimitable selves. And don’t forget to subscribe to my official Youtube channel for announcements, exclusive videos, album trailers, Ask Me Anythings, masterclasses, and much much more!

 **Johnson_Christopher**  
@SashaLermontovOfficial tl;dr

 **SashaFan8976**  
@SashaLermontovOfficial Sashaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ilu forever

 **lermontovslover**  
@SashaLermontovOfficial your dick my face now

 **DD62_amb**  
@self smh why do i read youtube comments

-♪-

**So You’re Going to See Eugene Onegin: Here’s What You Need to Know**  
Lisa Lescaut, _Opera Demystified_

You’ve read the Twitter gossip. You’ve seen the pictures of Emilia and Sasha on stage during dress rehearsal. And now you’re thinking about going and seeing _Eugene Onegin_ at Cinemark instead of the latest Marvel blockbuster. But what’s the opera about, anyway?

 _Opera Demystified_ has you covered! Here’s what you need to know:

Tatyana and Olga are two teenage sisters who live with their widowed mother in a small rural village in Russia. Olga is engaged to the local hunk, Lensky, who grew up with them and is her childhood sweetheart. He’s very much in love with her and spends all his time writing poetry to her and singing her poetic love songs. (To be fair, he’s a poet.) This is the Sasha Lermontov role. In any other opera, he’d be the romantic hero (he’s the tenor, after all). But this is RUSSIA and Russia likes its baritones.

One day when Lensky comes to see Olga and deliver his latest poem, he brings along a visiting friend, Onegin. Onegin is far more cosmopolitan and polished, and is the kind of person who’s always bored and superior. But he’s also gorgeous and has that aloof-and-sexy vibe going, and the bookish, romantic Tatyana instantly falls in love with him. That night, she stays up until dawn writing him a rash letter in which she declares her love. (The famous Letter Scene.) The next day, he arrives to bring it back and tell her that he’s flattered, but lady, he’s Not Meant for domestic bliss, and she needs to be more prudent with her epistolary avowals of eternal love. He’s super condescending and paternal (even though he’s like 22 years old, not that old himself). He’s That Dude. Tatyana is devastated. End of Act One.

So soon it’s Tatyana’s birthday, and they’re having a birthday ball, as you do. Lensky persuaded Onegin to come with him, but Onegin is really bored and getting pissy about it. He’s not amused by the ball entertainments (Tatyana’s mother has hired a French tenor to perform songs about how awesome Tatyana is, a role sung with great comic aplomb by the beloved Benoît Girardin). Onegin decides to get back at Lensky for bringing him to the ball by flirting with Olga and making him jealous. Unfortunately he gets more than he bargained for, because Lensky becomes so toweringly jealous that he challenges Onegin to a duel. Onegin regrets his choices, but it’s too late – Honor demands that he accept. The next day they fight their duel, and Onegin shoots Lensky dead. (Lensky’s famous aria, “Kuda, kuda,” is sung right before the duel.) Tragically-slain Sasha is carried offstage to go kick his heels in his dressing room. End of Act Two.

It’s a few years later. After the duel, Onegin went abroad, where he was haunted by Lensky’s death. He’s finally returned to Russia, and he’s attending a glittering high-society ball. But – LE GASP – who should arrive, wearing an epic ballgown (the Met has outdone themselves) and glittering with diamonds, but Tatyana! Onegin pulls aside his elderly relative Prince Gremin and goes “whooooa, who is _that_????!” Hopefully Gremin knows the inside scoop. But (surprise #2!) Gremin goes “oh yeah, you’ve been gone for a while, haven’t you? That’s my wife!” He sings a gorgeous aria about how old dudes fall in love too and Tatyana has transformed his life into utter bliss. Onegin just has to stand and listen, and afterwards, when Gremin introduces him to Tatyana, she’s cold and leaves immediately. Left behind, Onegin realizes suddenly that he is Head Over Heels in love with Tatyana!! He sings an aria about it. 

(Time for the famous Final Scene, which is fifteen minutes of Peak Russian Drama.) Tatyana is reading a letter Onegin has sent her, when he shows up. He declares his love. She tells him to leave. He proclaims his love some more. Eventually Tatyana admits that she still loves him, and Onegin is thrilled and gathers her in his arms. But no! Tatyana says that she’s married now, and will remain faithful to her husband forever. Onegin wants her to run away with him, but Tatyana remains steadfast. As Onegin screams over and over again that he loves her, she wrenches herself from his arms and flees, leaving him crying out about shame and humiliation and his wretched empty life. Sobbing, he collapses to the floor. CURTAIN.

And there you have it! _Eugene Onegin_ demystified. :)

Check back next week for _The Pearl Fishers_ , aka “Just Kiss Already, Dudes.”

-♪-

**BWW Review: The Met Has a Winner, Folks** ( _BroadwayWorld.com_ )  
by Evelyn Paine

Everyone’s heard the buzz. You could scarcely have missed it. Is soprano superstar Emilia Porter actually dating tenor hunk Sasha Lermontov? All this based on a Russian conversation overheard by a crowd of autograph seekers and acknowledged with wide-eyed unconcern by the soprano herself. “Yes, I speak Russian,” she told a _People_ reporter two days before the premiere, which only fanned the flames. A friend in London tells me that bookies are not only taking odds on whether the starry couple are together, but when the wedding will take place. A little premature, as the sneezing tenor told the salivating cover.

Put frankly, I don’t give a crap. After seeing the opera on Opening Night, it simply doesn’t matter. Whether Porter and Lermontov are in fact wildly in love, or if the visible glow surrounding Porter is due to nothing more than good genes and a fabulous makeup artist, the Met’s new _Onegin_ is a tour de force. The new production is sparkling and fresh, and the singing is superb. Porter’s debut as Tatyana is as phenomenal as we’ve come to expect all her work to be, and Popov matches her with consummate grace. The final scene pulls at the heartstrings just as it should. And Kuznetsova turns in a standout performance as Olga. Her Amneris should be superb…

[…]

-♪-

**Sasha Lermontov** @SashaLermontovOfficial 20m  
I had a wonderful time on Opening Night! Come see our Onegin at the Met or in cinemas. It’s fantastic! (Even if I do say so myself.) Also you will get to see the infamous trousers. )))

 **Sasha Lermontov** @SashaLermontovOfficial 17m  
@EmiliaPorter @KatyaKuzzy xoxo beautiful work tonight my dears congratulations

 **Sasha Lermontov** @SashaLermontovOfficial 15m   
emmy have u seen my dresser my trousers are stuck ( help

 **sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans 14m  
@SashaLermontovOfficial uh dude

 **sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans 13m  
@SashaLermontovOfficial or should i say uh comrade (or is that out of date)

 **James** @vinceeeeeero 13m  
… somehow I imagined Sasha’s pickup lines would be smoother

 **sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans 12m  
@vinceeeeeero prolly getting buzzed on champagne ever since they carried him out after the duel

 **Sasha Lermontov** @SashaLermontovOfficial 11m  
Haha, crisis averted. Sorry for the misfire everyone ;) [as Lenski said after the duel]

 **Al Johnson** @papapapapageno2 8m  
Has anyone considered that this might just be a savvy marketing campaign? Sexy costumes, skintight trousers, teasing a showmance between the It Soprano and the It Tenor…have we been played?

 **sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans 7m  
@papapapapageno2 shut up shhh don’t ruin it sasha is tweeting about his trousers we don’t need to analyze this

 **Katya the Great and Powerful** @KatyaKuzzy 6m  
@SashaLermontovOfficial did I or did I not tell you to take your trousers off BEFORE drinking the champagne

 **James** @vinceeeeeero 5m  
@emmyporterfans omg you called it, totally buzzed on champagne

 **Sasha Lermontov** @SashaLermontovOfficial 4m  
@KatyaKuzzy yes mom

 **sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans 3m  
@SashaLermontovOfficial @KatyaKuzzy dude you were literally just kissing Katya on stage 3 hours ago, please do not call her mom, this is weird

 **Sasha Lermontov** @SashaLermontovOfficial 1m  
@emmyporterfans @KatyaKuzzy acting kisses dont count haha :P she has better people to kiss anyway :P especially right now :PPPP

 **sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans now  
It seems somehow fitting that the one time Sasha actually replies to me, I have no clue what he’s talking about.

-♪-

**OperaGossip.com – All The Opera News That’s Not Fit To Print!**

 **HOUSTON, WE HAVE A RING!!!!**  
Posted 15 minutes ago

(Photo. Accessibility text: A grainy ultra-zoom picture of Emilia Porter’s left hand. There is what looks like a blurry ring on her ring finger.)

Our intrepid correspondent stage-doored at Opening Night of the Met’s new _Eugene Onegin_ , and after patiently waiting for some hours – 

What the fuck do you care about the long story. You want the goods. Well, here it is – Emilia Porter has been OFFICIALLY SIGHTED wearing an engagement ring!!! Big honking diamond, ring finger, enormous smile on her face, the works. Sasha Lermontov was loudly kissing her in the parking garage, with Katya Kuznetsova laughing nearby. 

So for all of those among you who scoffed at the rumors this week – Emmy speaking Russian DID mean something, and no, it WASN’T all some ultra-clever marketing plan! True love arrives for beautiful, talented opera singers just like it arrives for ordinary people! (All right, maybe with a few more high C’s.)

Our congratulations to the happy couple. Perhaps Sasha could celebrate by tweeting a video of his attempts to get out of those trousers.

-♪-

**Emmy and Sasha are engaged!!!**  
submitted 36 minutes ago by fachyoutoo to r/opera  
353 comments 

**America’s hottest soprano lands Russian hunk**  
submitted 1 hour ago by pokemonsarepeople to r/music  
3620 comments

-♪-

**National ENQUIRER | Hottest Celebrity Gossip & Entertainment News**

 **EMMY PORTER TAMES OPERA’S PLAYBOY HUNK**  
Superstar soprano spotted with massive engagement ring!  
By Jason Pinkerton

Opera’s brightest star is ready to take the plunge with its hottest! America’s own Emilia Porter, 38, was seen last night outside _Eugene Onegin_ kissing Russia’s heartthrob, Sasha Lermontov, 35, with a ring the size of MOSCOW on her finger.

The couple’s romance leapt to prominence this week, as their long-secret relationship was finally exposed. A friend told The National ENQUIRER that the golden-voiced crooners are deeply in love, and already planning their wedding. “Emmy wants a big party,” the source dished. “She’s always loved elaborate costumes, and she wants a cathedral wedding. Sasha will do whatever she says.”

Another pal added that the soprano has already put her foot down, refusing to consider moving to Russia. “Emmy’s American through and through. She wants kids, and she wants them now, and she wants to raise them here. Sasha will just have to move.”

Sounds like this diva knows exactly what she wants!

-♪-

**An Announcement from Emilia**   
EmiliaPorter.com

Hello, dear friends, fans, and colleagues. On behalf of all of us here in the cast and crew, thank you for the wonderful, overwhelming reaction to our Opening Night. It means so much to everyone in the production, and it is a joy to be able to share Tchaikovsky’s beautiful music with you. We hope you continue to enjoy the rest of our run, whether you attend in person, listen to us on the radio, or attend a cinema screening of The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD. 

And now, a personal announcement.

I know that over the years part of my ‘story’ has been my reluctance to share details about my private life. Perhaps the public hunger to lay bare the artist’s soul is unavoidable in this era of untrammeled celebrity. But I have always believed that it is what I create on stage that matters, not what I eat for breakfast or where I go on vacation or who I date. Although I know that this has resulted in headlines about my _lack_ of a salacious private life – I remember particularly one photoshoot, involving capes, veils, and a windy day, where the copy focused on my ‘air of alluring mystery,’ which made me laugh – this was never my intent. I am simply a private person, and shy.

Over this past week, however, my private life has become the center of intense media and fan interest. I have watched with bemusement as the gossip about me and Sasha Lermontov, started by an innocent conversation I had with a fan, mushroomed to an astonishing extent. Let me lay that gossip to rest. While I do in fact speak Russian, and Sasha is a dear friend of mine, we have never dated, and have absolutely no intention of doing so. Nor are we engaged (despite the breathless middle-of-the-night reporting on Twitter, blogs, gossip sites, and now the tabloids). To the paparazzi camped outside his apartment right now – please go home. I am not inside, and you’re scaring Sasha’s elderly mother.

The simple truth is that my heart has for a long time belonged to someone else.

Ten years ago, I was a young singer whose dreams had just started to come within reach. My beloved teachers had given me the tools and guidance I needed, and I believed (with the confidence and fearlessness of youth) that I only needed one big break to make my name. That break came when the Met called and asked if I would step in and sing the Countess in _Le Nozze di Figaro_. It was only supposed to be for two nights, but – you know the rest.

What you don’t know, because I have always been a very private person, is that there was another dimension to that seismic upheaval in my life. When I sang the Countess at the Met ten years ago, I was not only a young soprano introducing herself to the world. I was a young woman who had fallen – suddenly, helplessly, and irrevocably – in love. As I was interviewed backstage between acts during the Met Live in HD broadcast, at least half of my mind was distracted and delighted by the butterflies in my stomach. As I poured out my soul in Rosina’s arias, my heart was racing faster than it ever had before. As I listened to Cherubino’s arias – “sento un affetto pien di desir/ch'ora è diletto, ch'ora è martir” – I found myself trembling right along with my tempestuous page. 

And as I kissed the love of my life for the first time, still in Rosina’s wig and Susanna’s veil, seizing my courage with both hands, she kissed me back with such sweetness and certainty that I knew I would never be the same again. 

Since that day, we have never looked back. We travel the globe – sometimes together, sometimes apart – and we sing. Our repertoire doesn’t overlap much, and we’ve consciously kept our schedules separate even when we could conceivably co-star. Not because we don’t enjoy singing together (we do, and some of our most beautiful performances have been in our kitchen and heard only by our cat, Amadeus), but because when she’s on stage with me, I can only ever see her. 

We are both private people, and until this point we have chosen to keep our personal life to ourselves, but let me be clear: Katya is the light of my life, the joy of my heart, my lodestone and my guiding star, now and forever. 

Ten happy years after _Figaro_ , I asked Katya to change our long practice, and sing in _Onegin_ with me. Tatyana is a difficult role, and in debuting it I felt that I would benefit from Katya’s loyal support. She was also note-perfect in the entire opera, thanks to her endless patience in helping me learn Tatyana. (Seriously, Katya knows all the roles, from Tatyana all the way down to Gremin. We’ll have to record Tatyana and Onegin’s final scene one of these days and put it on Youtube. I imagine you’ll appreciate it more than Amadeus does.)

I also had one additional motive.

Last night, after the final note died away, after the final curtain came down and the final bow had been taken, after the wonderful Met ushers cleared the house, I told Katya I wanted to take pictures on the stage. Our lovely cast came with us, and Sasha was our photographer. 

(Photo. Accessibility text: An African-American woman in full operatic costume has gone down on one knee on an opera stage. She is holding a ring box with two rings in it. A Russian woman, also in full operatic costume, is standing in front of her, her hands clutching at her heart and a look of shock and pure joy on her face. They are surrounded by other people, mostly in costume.)

Она сказала «Да».

So yes – I am engaged! (But not to Sasha.) Thank you to everyone who loves Katya and me, and who has supported and cared for us over the years. The past ten years have been wonderful; I hope our story continues for another fifty, with Katya at my side every step of the way.

I am happier today than I have ever been before in my life.

♥ Emmy

-♪-

**James** @vinceeeeeero   
holy shit emmy and katya!!!!!!! opera fandom is about to combust in a good but also extremely OTT way

 **James** @vinceeeeeero  
(i am so here for it)

 **sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans   
@vinceeeeeero ikr 

**Sasha Lermontov** @SashaLermontovOfficial  
Why will people not stop stealing my Olga from me. ((( First Onegin, now Tatyana? I know my Olga is very beautiful, but I will have to fight duels with everyone, and I’m very bad at fighting duels.

 **sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans  
@SashaLermontovOfficial go home Lensky, you’re drunk

 **Sasha Lermontov** @SashaLermontovOfficial  
@emmyporterfans but then the opera would finish way too early (

 **sopranos do it higher** @emmyporterfans  
@SashaLermontovOfficial fair

-♪-

**KatyaKuzzy**

(Photo. Accessibility text: Two women are sitting side-by-side at a kitchen table. They are gazing into each other’s eyes, not looking at the camera, and both are laughing. Their hands are clasped together on the table, with their engagement rings visible. A cat sits nearby, glaring into the camera with feline dyspepsia.)  
90829 likes

 **KatyaKuzzy** So uh, this happened. ♥ #nowords #happyhappyhappy   
Load more comments  
 **EmiliaPorter** Tea’s ready, my love.  
 **zurga** ugh you two are so cuuuuuuute (Emoji. Accessibility text: hearts-for-eyes.) (Emoji. Accessibility text: hearts-for-eyes.) (Emoji. Accessibility text: hearts-for-eyes.)  
 **SashaLermontovOfficial** did you kick amadeus out of his favorite chair? he looks pissed  
 **emyaforever** this is life goals right here  
TWO HOURS AGO

-♪-

**The Metropolitan Opera** added **1 new photo**.

(Photo. Accessibility text: The Metropolitan Opera House, with a rainbow overlay.)

Love conquers all!

We congratulate **Emilia Porter** and **Katya Kuznetsova** on their engagement. Join us in celebrating with them as we continue _Eugene Onegin_ , which plays at the Met through the end of March and in cinemas with **The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD** program. Most dates are already sold out, so book quickly! Tickets from $25.

-♪-

**Amadeus The Cat** @theunofficialamadeus  
Joined Twitter: yesterday  
Following: 2  
Followers: 877

 **Sasha Lermontov’s Trousers** @sashastrousers  
Joined Twitter: today  
Following: 18  
Followers: 1214

-♪-

**Opera, musicals, ballet, theatre, etc.**  
ITT

 **Opera, musicals, ballet, theatre, etc. – Emmy & Katya’s Nozze**  
Any other nonnies spend the weekend watching this, now that we Know What We Know? (I have the bluray, but it’s on Met Player too of course.) Because omg, they are _so_ adorable. That bit at the end of the “Venite, inginocchiatevi” scene, when Susanna leaves to get the ribbon and Cherubino is flirting with Rosina, and Rosina’s pretending she isn’t affected but she _totally is_? *_* The layers of that scene are so cute now.

 **Opera, musicals, ballet, theatre, etc. – Emmy & Katya’s Nozze**  
I need to remember to nominate and request this for Yuletide. I never used to ship Rosina/Cherubino, but, well, now I do! I also wouldn’t say no to Emmy/Katya, just sayin’. Or to a fic about the first time Sasha heard Emmy speaking Russian (and put two and two together).

 **(frozen) Opera, musicals, ballet, theatre, etc. – Emmy & Katya’s Nozze (hide 67 comments)**  
Do you people have to bring RPF into EVERYTHING? ffs

-♪-

_emilia porter katya kuznetsova_  
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 **Tell Us What Your Favorite Things About Opera Are, And We’ll Tell You If You’re More Emmy or Katya**  
Buzzfeed

 **Do you think Porter and Kuznetsova will sing together more often now?**  
talkclassical.com/opera/

 **Q &A: Emilia Porter and Katya Kuznetsova on the Grammys, _Onegin_ , and Falling In Love on Stage**  
OperaWire

 **Review: _Eugene Onegin_ glitters with joy (and bling)**  
Wall Street Journal

 **Divas In Love**  
Daily Beast

 **Is it Kammy or Emya? Opera’s new It Couple outside their apartment (no sign of Amadeus)**  
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-♫-


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